It's been another year and a bit has changed in IoT. Connectivity has become ubiquitous and is inherent in all kinds of industries from manufacturing to automotive, health tech, energy, utilities, and city infrastructure. This year, we've seen IoT technologies contribute to the evolution of biotech, manufacturing, how we inhabit our homes, and the development of city landscapes. We've seen the convergence of IoT, AI, and more recently, blockchain technologies. But we've also experienced a year where consumers are starting to question the trade-off of the connected convenience compared to maintaining their data privacy and data ownership. While we've not had the big infrastructure/utility disrupting cyber attacks predicted by many, data breaches and software vulnerabilities have been a persist pain point in 2018.

As a tech journalist, I am privileged to meet some of the most interesting companies, analysts, and experts across the different verticals in IoT. This year, I asked them their predictions for 2019. Here's what they said:

Digitization Will Ensure the Reliability of the Grid

Technology is facilitating the smart grid, and the global energy landscape is undergoing a grand transformation, shifting from a centralized, one-dimensional grid towards a more decentralized, democratized network that is smarter, nimbler, and more efficient.

More utilities will realize the important role that software and digital technology will play to improve grid reliability during major weather events, especially as extreme weather occurrences continue to rise.

Electrification of Energy Uses: As electric vehicle adoption continues to rise, the grid will experience increased stress as it will need to accommodate for the additional power that is required.

Cybersecurity Goes Mainstream

Technologies like blockchain will not be an immediate requirement within industrial IoT in 2019 as the systems are still mostly closed loop systems and are trust established. However, cybersecurity will become a mainstream requirement in 2019 for device security, data integrity, device integrity, access control, and authorization, over and above data privacy.

Industry 4.0 Will Prioritize Integrated Data Architectures

Industrial IoT (IIoT) will become data-centric. Inconsistent, partially complete manufacturing data structures have limited digital manufacturing progress. 2019 will be the year that Industry 4.0 efforts prioritize integrated data architectures, delivering on the business case for factory productivity. Put simply, data (not machines) needs to be at the center of their processes.

To get in on this plant digital land rush, IIoT platform providers will offer proofs of concept at little cost, so they have an early edge in this huge market. For IIoT to prove it has the scale and trust to support daily production volumes, it needs to solve the enormous data structure issues that constrain manufacturers.- Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Senior Partner, Infosys

IoT Will Gain Traction With Older Adults and Healthcare Predictions

It is no secret that IoT is becoming more and more popular with each passing day. From wearable devices and apps to voice assistants such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home, consumers are continuing to steadily adopt IoT devices. According to a report from Accenture Interactive’s Acuity Group, 69 percent of consumers said they were looking to adopt an IoT technology by 2020. Although we will continue to see widespread adoption of IoT devices among consumers — especially those of younger generations — in 2019, it is important to point out that the use of IoT will also gain traction among older adults. We’ve actually already started to see this occur, but I anticipate that it will begin to pick up more traction as we head into 2019 and beyond as IoT is not a novelty for older adults, but rather can provide true utility in their lives and help improve their quality of life. IoT technologies will begin to take deeper roots in the homes of older adults as well as in senior living communities.

The next move for IoT in these areas will be towards predicting healthcare. Over the next year, it will be mainly a manual way of predicting by correlating data from different sources. However, over time, it will be algorithmic. For example, correlating what was eaten with sleeping patterns and fluctuation in the vitals could lead to a prediction of what’s coming and how it can be avoided. Specifically, senior living communities, home care/health agencies, and even insurance companies will be interested in predictive healthcare as it will help them foresee and avoid (or delay) impending health events all while empowering the older adults they serve to live richer and more engaged lives.

Vision Is the Missing Piece in Smart Assistants

Smart assistants are spreading to the home, car, and personal devices, but they're mainly focused on just hearing. Vision, one of our most powerful senses, is missing. In 2019, we will see smart assistance incorporate more “senses,” especially vision, letting them understand people's presence and identity before they even ask anything. By learning user preferences, understanding their actions, and eventually reading body language, smart assistants that can see will be able to anticipate user need and provide tailored experiences. For example, your smart home will know what hot drinks to make in the morning by seeing who's at breakfast.

Cloud Services and DevOps Enable Data Acquisition

IoT will focus on cloud services and APIs that enable the rapid proliferation of new applications and data gathering methodologies. Edge computing and massive-scale analytics will be key in this effort, rapidly evolving and enabling organizations to better manage IoT and address the security risks that come along with them.

DevOps technology will have a larger presence in businesses, as it brings tools back together, rather than breaking them apart.

Discrete manufacturing, transportation, and logistics will remain most progressive in the adoption of sensor data addressing their biggest challenge of OT (Operational Technology) security — but expect a similar trend to span into other industries as well.